Street sweeper



l:May 5,- 1925.

l.. F. BRYANT STREET swEEPER Filed Janfs, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 may l5; 1925.

L.. F. BRYANT STREET SWEEPER Filed Jan. 8, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mays, 1925.

fummo STATES t 1,537,003 PATENTFOFFIOE.

LLEWEL'LYN Isny-Anm, OF' LvnmivIAssAcHUsETTs, .AssIGNOR To THE srnING- `:FIELD Moron swEnPEn. COMPANY, or SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORATION orv Application filed January' s, 1923; serial no. 611,482:

To all 'db/0171, t may concern."

= it knowlrthatI, LLIwvr/LLYN` F. Bar;- ANnla citizenl of the-i` United States, residing atVLynn, in the county of Essexk and State Iof Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Street Sweepers, of which the following 1s a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in swee 1n a aratus and morearticula-rly to apparatus of this kind known as streetsweepersin which a horizontal robeing discharged rearwardlyl Vofthe appa# vthey are carried to the hopper 4.

ratus by 'centrifugal lfvorce and again def posited upon the swept surface.

In the accompanying drawings?v 1 Fig. 1 is 'a sideelevation.l of a. street sweeper' embodying the improvements. Fig. 2 is a` view of oneend of the horizontaltbroom lshowing my improvements in side elevation.

VFFig. 3 isa rear elevation of aA portion of the parts shown 1n Fig. 2. i 1 f,

Referrlng to the drawings,y a motor driven street sweeper is .shownfin Fig. 1

which has a plurality of vertically-disevr posed sweeping brooms-11 arranged to throw the sweepings toward the center .of the line of travel of the machine, and a rear horizontally-disposed broom 2,. which rotates anti-clockwise, and picks up the sweepings from theI forward brooms and deposits them on' an elevator 3 by which The shaft 5" of the horizontal broom is journaled in the rear vends ofy a pair yof pivoted arms, one of which 6,is shown in Fig. 1, and provision is made for raising the broom by a hand lever 7 located near the drivers seat, through the medium of the cable 8, attached to the crank yarm 9, vconnected to shaft 10, a crank arm 11 also con.`

nected to said shaft, rand a link 12 connecting the crank arm 11 with the arm 6. The shaft extends to the Opposite side ofthe machine where similar connections are made with another arm corresponding to arm 6. v

Heretofore, in the operation of these ma` chines, when `af large pile or accumulation ofv dira-leaves and other sweepings is encountered `sufficient to overload the hori-` zontal pick-up broom, a. part of the sweepingswill be packed into the wire bristles of the broom yand be carried therewith and discharged by centrifugal force rearwardly ofthe machine. To overcome this, I have providedv means 4`whereby such sweepings will beheldin thebristles of the broom untilthey reach a point between the road .surface` and the mouth or'lower end of the elevator, at vwhich point, if only thc usual amountof sweepings is being encountered, they-Twill be thrown out of the bristles by centrifugal forceand `discharged onto the elevator inthe ,usual way. The means consist of a 'cover or casing which encloses and? tightly hugs thatpart of the periphery of the broom which would tend to rthrow the sweepings contained within the bristles thereof rearwardly out of the path of the broom 'and 'is shown as eX- tending from a point beginningvwith snbstantially the vertical centerline ofthe broom at the top to apoint near the ground line `at the bottom. In the .present case the casing is lformed in three sections 13, 14 and 15 having theirv adjacent edges hinged together and so shaped as to conform to the contour of the outer periphery of the broom. These-casing sections are preferably of light sheetmetal and are arranged to tightly hug the bristles of the broom partly Vby their own weight and partlybysprings, one of which is shown at 16, which connects the sections 14 and 15 and draws the lower section 15 with a yielding pressure against the broom bristles. One of these springs is arranged at each end of the casing and .shown as another crank arm 24 which is connected by the rod 25 with 'the arm 9. Similar connections (not shown) are made from the opposite end of the rock shaft 10 to the opposite end of the middle section 14 4of the casing. These connections between the arms 9 and the casing not. only sustain the casing in proper relation with the horizontal broom but also serve to raise the casing when the broom is raised.

The space between the upper edge of the casing section 13 and the hopper 4 is enclosed at the rear by a. `'flexible curtain 26 attached at its upper edge to the hopper 4 and at its lower edge to the upper edge of the casing section 13 in any suitable way. The hopper is of the tiltable type, being designed to roll back upon the track 27 in a well known way, the flexible curtain 26 collapsing or folding when the hopper tilts. This curtain prevents dust, dirt or other sweepings from being thrown rearwardly over the top of the casing by centrifugal action of the broom. A second flexible curtain or flap 28 is attached to the lower 'edge of the lower casing section 15 and closes the space between the same and the ground to prevent escape of the sweepings from the broom bristles at that point.

By this arrangement it will be seen that the upper and middle casing sections will be caused to closely hug the periphery of the broom substantially by the weight of the easing,the lower section being sustained in close proximity to the broom bristles by the springs. This casing prevents the dirt, leaves and other sweepings which are packed in the bristles from being thrown rearwardly by centrifugal force and insures that eventually*practically all of the sweepings will be deposited on'to the elevator and carried to the hopper.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a sweeper, the combination, with a horizontally disposed broom arranged to throw the sweepings forwardly, and a casing formed in hinged sections enclosing a. poi'- tion of the periphery of the broom at the rear thereof, the lower section being resiliently connected with the adjacent upper section to hold said lower section in yielding contact with the periphery of said broom, the upper' section being held in yielding `Contact withI the periphery of the broom by the weight of said section.

2. In a sweeper, t-he combination of a horizontally-disposed broom arranged to throw the sweepings forwardly, a casing formed of hinged sections, together with yieldable means for holding all of said sections in yielding contact with the bristles of said broom at the rear thereof, for the purpose specified.

3. In a sweeper of the character described,

Athe Combination with a horizontally-dis posed sweeping broom arranged to throw the sweepings forwardly, a casing arranged in yielding relation with the periphery of said broom at a point in the rear thereof, and means for simultaneously elevating said broom and casing.

4. In a sweeper of the character described, the combination with a horizontally-disposed sweeping broom, a casing arranged in yielding relation with the bristles of said broom at the rear thereof, said casing being formed in hinged sections, a hand lever and connections therefrom to said broom for elevating the same, and an additional connection to said casing for elevating said casing simultaneously with said broom.

5. In a sweeper, the combination, with a tiltable hopper, of a horizontal rotary broom, a casing for said broom arranged in close proximity to that portion of the periphery thereof opposite the discharge side of the broom, and a flexible curtain attached to said hopper and to the upper edge of said casing,

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of December, 1922.

LLEIVELLYN F. BRYANT. 

